Two-piece aluminum beverage cans are produced in vast quantities for holding carbonated soft drinks and beer. The cans include a can body on which a can end is attached by a seam. Commercial two piece beverage cans are formed by a well-known drawing and ironing process (also known as a drawn wall ironing or DWI process) that first draws an aluminum blank into a cup and then irons the walls of the cup to form the can body in a machine named a body maker.
The industry convention of can sizes employs three digits to represent inches and the quantity of 16th inches. Thus, a 211 can body has a nominal 2 and 11/16 inch diameter. As is understood in the art, and as employed throughout this disclosure, nominal beverage can end sizes do not refer to exact measurements to the outside of the seam. Rather, the nominal size is an industry standard that no longer corresponds to exact diameter because the beverage industry switched to the seaming technology generally referred to as a “mini-seam.” In this regard, the nominal size refers generally to the diameter of the outside of the seam plus reduction in the diameter corresponding with the change from an old double seam to a modern, mini-seam.
The most popular beverage can size is 12 ounce in the United States and 330 ml in Europe. A 12 ounce beverage can has a 211 body diameter, ends typically sized at 202 to 206, and height of 4.8 inches. A 330 ml can typically has ends like those in the U.S. and typically has a height of 114 mm. Thinner taller beverage cans are also commercially available. Cans referred to as sleek cans typically have a 206.5 body and a height of 114 mm or 145 mm for a 250 ml or 330 ml capacity in Europe. Cans referred to as slim cans typically have 53 3 mm or 202 diameter and a 88 mm, 111 mm, or 134 mm height for 150 ml, 200 ml, or 250 ml cans. Traditional beverage cans typically have ends that are 202 to 206 size, sleek can end sizes are usually 202, and slim can end sizes are usually 200.
The end sizes of the above cans are smaller than the can body diameters because the can body undergoes a necking operation in which the diameter of the open end is reduced in several stages. For example, the necking operation may reduce the can body diameter from a 211 size to a diameter than may be seamed with a 206, 204, or 202 end. After necking, the can end is attached to the can body in a well-known seaming process. Moreover, can ends can be the full aperture type, in which the tab is coupled to the removable panel, and of the stay-on-tab type, in which the tab affixed to a non-removable center panel is actuated to rupture a score to form a hinged tear panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,109,406 discloses an end on a tapered can neck. In a first embodiment, a tab includes an elongate body to which a rivet is attached, a heel at one end of the tab body, and a nose at an opposing end of the body. The rivet is offset from the centerline of the end opposite the tear panel that forms the opening. In other words, in the prior art end, the center of the end is between the rivet and the tear panel. To open it, a user pivots the end over the seam of the can such that the heel is cantilevered in space. In other embodiments in the U.S. Pat. No. 8,109,406, a user grips an end of an unconventional pull tab to bend the tab at a hinge until a portion of the tab is upright. The score is opened upon the second step of pulling the tab straight up to apply a downward force through a puncturing nose. Based on rough scaled dimension in the drawings, the embodiments of the U.S. Pat. No. 8,109,406 disclose a can body sidewall diameter that is approximately 105% to 115% greater than the end diameter.
In addition to conventional metal beverage cans, beverages (especially beer) are commercially supplied in drawn and ironed metal bottles and in impact extruded metal bottles. A metal bottle, which is commercially manufactured under the trade name Alumitek™, has a drawn and ironed 211 can body and a neck that tapers to a threaded, roll-on pilfer-proof (ROPP) 38 mm (1.5 inch) closure. United States Design patents D639,164; D638,708; and D622,145 illustrate the bottle shape and threaded neck and closure.
Commercial metal bottles are also formed by an impact extrusion process in which a slug of aluminum or an aluminum alloy is placed in a cylindrical die and struck with a punch at high pressure. The metal of the slug then flows upwardly to form a thin-wall open ended container that usually has bead for a pry off cap. U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,893 discloses an impact extruded bottle having threads. Drawn and ironed can body walls typically are significantly thinner than impact extrusion can walls.